The End Of Ari
by CakeIsAGoodFriend
Summary: Another Songfic-Oneshot. Ari is dying in the big battle with Omega and everyone else around him. When Max rushes over to aid him, what goes through her head? Saddest story I've ever written. To the song 'Ronan' by Taylor Swift.


**This is a songfic. It's emotional and a bit depressing. Basically, it's Max's memories about Ari coming back to her as he's dying. I added a few of my own tweaks to the scene itself. This song, 'Ronan' by Taylor Swift, is about a 4-year old boy who had cancer and died. I was just struck by the rawness of the song, and felt that I should write something for it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride or 'Ronan' by Taylor Swift.**

**Max POV**

_I remember your bare feet, down the hallway._

_I remember your little laugh._

_Race cars on the kitchen floor, plastic dinosaurs._

_I loved you to the moon and back._

I stared at his limp, seemingly lifeless body. It was Ari, dying if not already dead. Stopping just for a moment to look at Ari, a fist collided with my jaw. At that point, I didn't care any more. The blow didn't hurt; I only felt emptiness in the pit of my stomach. I pulled back my own fist and whammed it into my attacker's head.

I didn't pause to look at the condition of whomever I had just hit. Instead, I ran over to Ari and leaned over his distorted, twitching body.

_I remember your blue eyes, looking into mine,_

_Like we had our own secret club._

_I remember you dancing, before bedtime._

_Then jumping on me, waking me up._

It wasn't fair. No matter how mutated he might be, he's only 7. And this just isn't fair. I remember him as a little boy, walking past my cage. He always wanted to talk to me, and I would always let him.

~Flashback~

_I am one with the corner,_ I thought to myself. I figured if I shrank myself as small as humanly (well, avian-humanly) possible, the white coats wouldn't take me away for any experiments. My pale hospital gown clung to me, and I pinched my eyes shut as the sound of footsteps neared my cage.

"Max?" A small voice said. I opened my eyes to see young, 5-year old Ari standing there.

"Ari." I exhaled a sigh of relief.

"Hi." He said shyly. "I brought you some more of the cake you like." He handed me the piece through the metal bars. It was falling apart, sticky, and a gooey mess, but it was the thought that counted.

"Thank you." I said, genuinely. He was the only person in the school, that wasn't an experiment, which actually cared for our well-being.

~End Flashback~

_I can still feel you hold my hand._

_Little man._

_And even the moment I knew._

_You fought hard like an army guy._

_Remember I_

_Leaned in and whispered to you,_

"Ari." I whispered and shook his side just like they train you not to do when reviving someone. Tears rolled down my cheeks and I put my ear on his chest. The heartbeat was small, but it was there.

~Flashback~

My hand was smoothly connected with Fang's through the bars of our cages. I looked at him, panicked that Iggy was still not back from his tests yet.

"Max!" Little Ari waddled up to the cages. "I drew you a picture." He grinned.

"Really?" My voice crackled, still hoarse from the last experiment.

He showed it to me, and Fang leaned in to view it. It was the entire Flock in a green meadow. There were flowers everywhere. Ari was there, too. We were all holding hands and smiling. A watery small played on my lips. If only reality was living in a world of flowers and singing Kumbaya.

Ari walked away, smiling at his artistry.

Then Fang let out one of his rare moments of speech. "He's a good kid." Fang's deep voice sounded.

"I know." I whispered back.

~End Flashback~

If only Fang had thought he was a good kid recently.

_Come on baby we're gonna fly away_

_From here._

_You were, my best four years._

_I remember the drive home._

_When the blind hope._

_Turned into crying and screaming why._

"Ari." I said once more and began to press down on his chest repeatedly. The battle raging around me was nothing compared to the internal one I was facing right this moment.

"Ari!" I cried out, louder this time. I might've imagined it, but I think I saw a twitch in his face.

_Flowers pile up in the worst way._

_No one knows what to say._

_About a beautiful boy who died._

_And it's about to be Halloween._

_You could be anything_

_You wanted if you were still here._

I stared intensely at the part of his face that had just moved. His long eyelashes fluttered a bit, and suddenly he looked like a little boy again.

"Ma-ax." His dry throat managed to choke out my name, bringing on a new rush of tears.

_I remember the last day._

_When I kissed your face._

_And whispered in your ear._

_Come on baby with me we're gonna fly away_

_From here._

_Out of this curtained this curtained room and this hospital grey_

_Will just disappear._

~Flashback~

Today was the day. The day I would escape this cage. The day I would get away from these hospital walls. The day I would run from the School. And it was all thanks to Jeb.

"Are you excited?" I leaned over near Fang's cage and whispered to him. He let out one of the first half-smiles he has in years.

"Max." The boyish voice I had learned to recognize and love sounded in my ears.

"Ari." My voice choked. I had forgotten about him. We were leaving him behind forever.

He was frowning. "Daddy says you're going away. Is that true?"

I solemnly nodded. "But maybe someday, if we're lucky, we'll get to see each other again."

"But I don't want you to leave, Max."

My voice quavered. "And I don't want to leave you. But I have to go."

~End Flashback~

_Come on baby with me we're gonna fly away,_

_From here._

_You were my best four years._

_What if I'm standing in your closet_

_Trying to talk to you?_

_What if I kept the hand-me-downs_

_You won't grow into?_

~Flashback~

"Max." A little boy's voice sounded in my ear. _Ari,_ I thought immediately.

Maybe Jeb brought him back to us. Maybe Jeb got him taken away from the School. Maybe I'd get to see him again.

"I connected the blue wire from the microwave with the green one from your alarm clock and they exploded!" I turned to see Gazzy, giddy with joy.

"That's… great." I said finally, suddenly too tired scold him about it.

~End Flashback~

_What if I really thought some miracle would see us through?_

_What if the miracle was getting even one moment with you?_

_Come on baby with me we're gonna fly away_

_From here._

'Sorry' Ari's mouth moved, but no words escaped from his lips.

I knew it was a sorry for everything. For being what he is, for trying to kill me, for kidnapping me and taking me away from the Flock.

I responded with a meek, "Me too."

_Come on baby with me we're gonna fly away_

_From here._

_You were my best four years._

He shut his eyes once more. I leaned down and put my head against his chest. Only this time, there wasn't a heartbeat that graced me with its presence.

He was gone.

_I remember your bare feet, down the hallway._

_I loved you to the moon and_

_Back._

**Oh my God, that was so emotional. You have no idea how many times I wanted to cry while writing this. I suggest listening to the song while reading this because it just brings a whole different dimension to the story.**

**Thanks for reading my first kind-of angsty fanfic,**

**~Cake.**


End file.
